Raul Coronel

Yes, it goes all the way through, it isn't loose from the backboard though, no danger of it falling off I don't think...

More than likely the crack happened sometime during the assembly process....Still a great piece regardless. I am willing to bet that it is a one of a kind.

Sweet! :) I'm so happy to have found it, thanks for your help!!

Hello Calusa -

I was wondering when you described the method to remount the wall hanging pieces, was wondering when you take the ceramic pieces off, what would you soak them in to get the glue off? Also, could you try any type of stain remover?

Thanks,

Not one of a kind; I have seen at least one other of these. It does not appear in the catalog.
An interesting point regarding so called "one of a kind" pieces as well as wall pieces that are not pictured in the catalog: Raul himself identified the (previously posted) Adam & Eve wall piece as "one of a kind" (and it is not in the catalog); but I met a dealer at the recent Downtown Modernism show who owns another "Adam & Eve", so there is perhaps no telling if an item is indeed "one of a kind". I think Raul can be forgiven if, at 86, he cannot remember every one of the literally thousands of items he produced over 30 years ago.

Wonderful vase designed by Raul Coronel and made by Treasure Craft of California c. 1970

I've seen this style only once before--it was listed on ebay for way too much money and it was chipped; and the seller made no mention of Raul, apparently not knowing who had designed it. Yours is much nicer with that excellent orange glaze. I had shown the ebay listing to Raul and he had no idea that Treasurecraft had produced this item. Even though he did some freelance design work for them after Stoneware Designs closed, they apparently "appropriated" this design and whatever else they wanted from his earlier designs without compensating (or notifying) him. I have also seen several of his ashtray styles cheaply reproduced by Treasurecraft.
Treasurecraft also lifted Robert Maxwell's cast stoneware formula, several designs, glazes and techniques without proper compensation, which prompted Maxwell to file suit against Alfred Levin, the founder of T-craft. Raul allegedly based a character in his first novel on Levin. The character was a real slimeball who was murdered in the end.

By the way, in my opinion your piece is a real rarity and an interesting and somewhat important footnote to the career of a great artist.

Thank you Calusa for your reply. Such a sad story that the artist didn't know about these works. Interestingly enough a friend of mine found the vase featured on the Treasure Craft Book (image attached) How blatant of them to document it as if it had been legally acquired.
I agree that no matter how it came to be, the piece is wonderful and rare.

Over the past weekend this large wall piece turned up at a local estate sale. It is nearly five feet tall. The original purchaser was Richard Ney, second husband of actress Greer Garson. Unfortunately, at some point this piece suffered some serious damage and a fairly poor repair. Perhaps you can see, the section that is the horses head and body, which was one piece, has been shattered into several pieces. The pieces were then joined together and what appear to be "grout lines" are clearly visible. Some "greyish" irregularity can also be detected in the white glazed areas. The shield was also broken in two pieces and repaired. The damage was not recognized by the people conducting the sale and the item was highly overpriced for an extensively repaired piece. Even at a 75% discount on the fourth day of the sale, I felt it was too much to pay. Overall it was an unfortunate situation for a large unique piece personally made by Raul.

not his most original work

Yeah, I agree. Most of the pictorial wall pieces really weren't his best expression--way too whimsical and "cartoony"--they were primarily a response to designers and decorators who were asking for things to put on the wall to accent the pots, lamps and sculptures. The things sold well though, primarily (in my opinion) to a public with very little aesthetic taste or judgment. I greatly prefer the abstract wall pieces.

Speaking of which, here are pics of two of the very few wall pieces I own (please pardon the lens distortion). These are simply titled "Boy" and "Girl". They are early versions as evidenced by the silkscreen backgrounds. When I got them there was no name tag, but as I may have mentioned at some point, I had Raul make up several name plates of both "raul" and "coronel" which I then stained and fired, as the originals are often missing.

A few more pieces have recently turned up; the first two are striking stoneware murals that are in the patio of a home in Brentwood, California that recently sold for nearly $12,000,000 (the home not the murals).

Also, from a different source, a rare matching set of lamps:

Hi Calusa. My husband and I have been reading through this thread. Thank you for sharing so much information on this special artist. Would you or Mr. Coronel be able to tell us about this particular, large ceramic mural that we inherited (picture below, 60"x40", signed "raul 62")? We guess that my husband's grandmother, Nina (pronounced Nine-a) Kessler, probably bought it new for her house in Beverly Hills. My husband has always loved it, and it was the one thing of hers he really wanted when she passed. It wasn't until we were in an upscale, mid-century furniture store on Melrose that we saw more of Coronel's work and realized he was a recognized artist. My husband felt rather validated, of course. We'd love to know more about the scene (are these Romans? Are the men, in fact, wearing sunglasses?) and anything else about the piece. We're in Los Angeles, and also interested if you know of anyone who would be willing to remount it for us. This used to hang in Nina's dining room, and there's a collection of Thanksgiving-based stains on the cloth in the bottom right quadrant. Very many thanks.

A nice piece of Coronel's wall art:

Calusa, It was nice meeting you last weekend at the DtLA Modernshow.  I wanted to show the forum a couple of Raul's Jeweled village's. The first one is a piece that I picked up last year at an estate sale in LA. There were many of Raul's lamps and vases there but i missed out on those.  I also picked up an ashtray that I believe is his.  
The second picture is the same "Jeweled Village" panel that I picked up last weekend at the show.  The frame is in horrible condition and needs to be re-done, which I will take on soon.  
I wanted to point out the differences in the pieces for others.  The first picture the  panel is made up of six tiles and is signed coronel in the bottom right. The second picture the panel is made up of twenty one tiles and is not signed.  
I have googled this piece and it seems that the double Jeweled Village is only signed on the right village, not the left village. So maybe these were made with some signed and some not to put together if needed, or wanted.  But I also noticed that all of the pieces that I saw on the net were the twenty one tile version.  I am curious If this is a later/earlier piece. Or just different.  

Like others I want to thank you again for bringing Raul Coronel's work to light to the masses.


https://i.servimg.com/u/f18/19/24/05/51/img_1010.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f18/19/24/05/51/img_1011.jpg

Hi Chili, thanks for dropping by the booth and showing that piece to me. In comparing your two pieces, it seems clear the images were made from the same template as they are quite identical in proportion and content (I am assuming they are the same size?). It appears that once the image was applied and incised onto a clay slab, it was then sliced into the various tiles. I am not sure why the majority of those you have seen are the 21 tile version, but I suspect it may have had something to do with warpage of the individual tiles and that the larger tiles in the 6 tile version may have been more prone to warping both in the flatness of the tile and along the sides. I have done some ceramic work with tiles and have had such problems myself, especially in the high temperatures at which these were fired. I think therefore the 6 tile version is likely an earlier piece. I will ask Raul about it when I speak to him next.

Calusa, thank you for your reply. You're right all of these are really close. My two are only just a little different on the small carved parts. Like the rocks.

It's interesting you mentioned the flatness of the tile. The six tile piece has a little curling on s few tiles. The twenty one piece has none. I prefer the curled piece. It has more character. And it's signed.

-jeff

I spoke to Raul about the size of the tiles and he affirmed that i was in part due to warpage but also he said the glass tended to crack the larger tiles.

Picked up 3 pendant lighting fixtures from a woman who approached me at the recent Downtown Modernism show (Los Angeles) and asked if I might be interested in buying some period lighting she had removed from her home. I think she saw some of my own pendants in my booth and thought I might be a promising mark. So, anyway, I followed her to her car and as she opened the back, I had to keep from choking with surprise--there were 3 great ceramic lamps. One had been spray painted gold (tacky, tacky), but no matter I bought them for a very reasonable price. Shown below are the pieces as I found them. Second pic is after having the one stripped of the paint.
/Users/michaelhickman/Desktop/raul lights copy.jpg

Forum member ThoroughlyModernBilly showed me these two pieces today. The first is an enormous and beautiful charger with carved decoration (Sorry pictures just don't do this justice--it is really incredible) about 22 inches diameter.
The second piece is a pendant light fixture that either hasn't ever been wired, or someone stripped the lamp works from it.

I hope this post does not appear too bizarre, My dad had this hung up in his log cabin in Alaska. He has passed away but did tell me years ago that he (and I) are related to the artist who made this and of course now I wished I had asked so many more questions while I had the opportunity. Without going into the whole ancestry, my Great-Grandmother was Grace Simon, maiden name Coronel (I believe). So my google search has led me here and in a short amount of time I have read through your Q & A posts (more than once) and have become very intrigued. I am hoping that you can confirm whether or not this piece is by Raul Coronel or an assistant.
https://servimg.com/view/19256311/1
https://servimg.com/view/19256311/3

I apologize in advance if I did not insert pics correctly, and hope to not waste your time.

Audrey Strickland

it certainly has a Mexican look to it Audrey but I'm sure our Coronel expert will be able to advise you

Hi Audrey, Yes your piece is by Raul Coronel. Despite the "coronel" signature as opposed to "raul" it appears to be his work as opposed to that of an assistant. The pictures are a little fuzzy. If you could re-shoot it and email a photo to me at vht@att.net, I will forward it to Raul and ask him about the family connection.
Mike (Calusa)